2026 United States Senate election in Oklahoma

2026 United States Senate election in Oklahoma

The 2026 United States Senate election in Oklahoma will be held on November 3, 2026, to elect a member of the U.S. Senate to represent the state of Oklahoma. Incumbent Senator Alan Armstrong, who was appointed after the resignation of former Senator Markwayne Mullin, cannot seek a full term due to his agreement when taking the seat. Mullin was first elected in a 2022 special election triggered by the impending resignation of Jim Inhofe. Mullin initially announced that he was planning to seek his first full term in office, but in March 2026, President Donald Trump announced that Mullin would be his next nominee for secretary of homeland security; Mullin subsequently resigned the seat to take that position. Primary elections will be held on June 16, 2026. Democrats have not won a U.S. Senate race in Oklahoma since (/wiki/1990UnitedStatesSenateelectioninOklahoma).

Background

2026 United States Senate election in Oklahoma

United States Senate elections in Oklahoma are scheduled to be held on November 3, 2026, to elect a member of the U.S. Senate to represent the state of Oklahoma. Primary elections are scheduled for June 16 with a potential runoff election set for August 25 if no candidate receives over 50 percent of the vote in June. The candidate filing deadline is April 3.

The seat was originally held by Jim Inhofe, who was last elected in (/wiki/2020UnitedStatesSenateelectioninOklahoma). Two years later, in 2022, then-Congressman Markwayne Mullin won a special election to finish Inhofe's term after Inhofe had announced his resignation at the end of the 117th Congress. After Donald Trump won the 2024 United States presidential election, Mullin was rumored as a contender for secretary of the interior. Mullin's resignation would have affected the gubernatorial election, as governor Kevin Stitt would have appointed a replacement who must sign a potentially unenforceable oath promising not to run for reelection in 2026. Mullin was ultimately not nominated as the secretary of interior. However, in March 2026, Mullin was named as Trump's pick to replace secretary of homeland security Kristi Noem and was confirmed on March 23, 2026.

Interim appointment

2026 United States Senate election in Oklahoma

Mullin was confirmed as the secretary of homeland security and resigned as senator on March 23, 2026. Governor Kevin Stitt was required to appoint a replacement within 30 days. He stated the appointee would serve the remainder of the current term until January 3, 2027, though state law provides that the appointment lasts only until the November election is certified by the Oklahoma State Election Board. The interim appointee must have been a registered Republican for the past five years, and they would have to sign an oath stating they will not run in the 2026 election. On March 24, 2026, Governor Stitt announced that oil and gas executive Alan Armstrong would replace Mullin, he was sworn in by Chuck Grassley later that day.

Republican primary

Candidates

On March 5, 2026, Trump announced that Mullin would replace Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem at the end of the month. Mullin was confirmed by the Senate on March 23, 2026. U.S. representative Kevin Hern has announced a run for the seat.

Declared

• Nick Hankins, candidate for Oklahoma's 4th congressional district in (/wiki/2024UnitedStatesHouseofRepresentativeselectionsinOklahoma#District4) • Kevin Hern, U.S. representative for Oklahoma's 1st congressional district (2018–present) • Ron Meinhardt, executive director of Entering Wedge Media • Tammy Swearengin, tax accountant and financial advisor • Wayne Lonny Washington, chairman of the Washington Brown Foundation

Publicly expressed interest

• Dusty Deevers, state senator from the 32nd district (2023–present) (currently running for re-election)

Potential

• Nathan Dahm, former chair of the Oklahoma Republican Party (2023–2025), former state senator from the 33rd district (2012–2024), candidate for Oklahoma’s 1st congressional district in (/wiki/2010UnitedStatesHouseofRepresentativeselectionsinOklahoma#District1) and (/wiki/2018UnitedStatesHouseofRepresentativeselectionsinOklahoma#District1), and candidate for U.S. Senate in (/wiki/2022UnitedStatesSenatespecialelectioninOklahoma) • Ryan Walters, former Oklahoma superintendent of public instruction (2023–2025)

Withdrawn

• Markwayne Mullin, U.S. secretary of homeland security (2026–present) and former U.S. senator (2023–2026)

Declined

• Stephanie Bice, U.S. representative for Oklahoma's 5th congressional district (2021–present) (running for re-election) • Josh Brecheen, U.S. representative for Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district (2023–present) (running for re-election; endorsed Hern) • G.T. Bynum, former mayor of Tulsa (2016–2024) • Tom Cole, U.S. representative for Oklahoma's 4th congressional district (2003–present) (running for re-election) • Gentner Drummond, attorney general of Oklahoma (2023–present) (running for governor) • Frank Lucas, U.S. representative for Oklahoma's 3rd congressional district (2003–present) (running for re-election) • Kyle Hilbert, speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives (2025–present) from the 29th district (2016–present) • David Holt, mayor of Oklahoma City (2018–present) (running for re-election) • Chip Keating, former Oklahoma secretary of public safety (2019–2020) and son of former governor Frank Keating (running for governor) • Mike Mazzei, former state senator from the 25th district (2004–2016) (running for governor) • Charles McCall, former speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives (2017–2025) from the 22nd district (2013–2024) (running for governor) • Lonnie Paxton, president pro tempore of the Oklahoma Senate (2025–present) from the 23rd district (2016–present) • Matt Pinnell, lieutenant governor of Oklahoma (2019–present) • T. W. Shannon, former speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives (2013–2014) from the 62nd district (2007–2015) and candidate for U.S. Senate in (/wiki/2014UnitedStatesSenatespecialelectioninOklahoma) and (/wiki/2022UnitedStatesSenatespecialelectioninOklahoma) (currently running for lieutenant governor) • Kevin Stitt, governor of Oklahoma (2019–present)

Ineligible

• Alan Armstrong, incumbent U.S. senator (2026–present)

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of December 31, 2025
Candidate	Raised	Spent	Cash on hand
Kevin Hern (R)	$1,895,468	$820,291	$2,223,843
Source: Federal Election Commission

Democratic primary

Declared

• Troy Green, nonprofit founder • Jim Priest, lawyer • N'Kiyla "Jasmine" Thomas, nurse

Fundraising

<table><thead><tr><th>Campaign finance reports as of December 31, 2025</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Candidate</td><td>Raised</td><td>Spent</td><td>Cash on hand</td></tr><tr><td>Troy Green (D)</td><td>$10,727</td><td>$3,211</td><td>$7,516</td></tr><tr><td>N'Kiyla "Jasmine" Thomas (D)</td><td>$19,427</td><td>$17,729</td><td>$2,634</td></tr><tr><td>Source: Federal Election Commission</td></tr></tbody></table>

General election

Predictions

<table><thead><tr><th>Source</th><th>Ranking</th><th>As of</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Inside Elections</td><td>Solid R</td><td>August 12, 2025</td></tr><tr><td>The Cook Political Report</td><td>Solid R</td><td>October 14, 2025</td></tr><tr><td>Sabato's Crystal Ball</td><td>Safe R</td><td>August 12, 2025</td></tr><tr><td>Race To The WH</td><td>Safe R</td><td>September 4, 2025</td></tr></tbody></table>